JPH0434689A - Vending machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the thickness of the whole of a commodity storage rack by installing a solenoid mechanism part apart from the commodity storage rack. CONSTITUTION:A discharging mechanism part 14 and a solenoid mechanism part 20 as its driving source are connected by a flexible and unexpansible/ uncontractile long-sized power transmission member 23. Consequently, the solenoid mechanism part 20 which occupies a relatively large installation space in a commodity discharging device can be installed apart from a commodity storage rack 11. Thus, the thickness of the whole is reduced and the number of commodity storage racks is increased without an influence of the size of the driving source of the commodity discharging device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a vending machine, and more particularly to a product storage device suitable for making the vending machine thinner and for increasing the variety of products sold.

(Prior Art) Generally, in a conventional vending machine, a plurality of product storage shelves each having a curved product passage within the main body are provided adjacently and in parallel. A product discharging device is attached to the lower part of the product storage shelf for sequentially discharging the lowest products of the storage shelf in accordance with sales instructions.

The product ejection device basically includes a solenoid whose movable iron core is biased by a tension spring in a direction opposite to the suction direction, a power transmission member, and two product stoppers. When the motion of the movable core of the solenoid is transmitted to the ejection mechanism section consisting of the first and second stoppers via the power transmission member,
The first and second stoppers alternately move in and out of the product path, and in the protruding state, the first stopper locks the lowest product, and the second stopper locks the second product from the lowest.

In recent years, with the diversification of products in vending machines, it has been desired to be able to accommodate and vend a wider variety of products, and for this purpose, there has been a demand for increased product storage shelves. Increasing the width and depth of a vending machine to increase the number of product storage shelves is undesirable because it poses installation problems such as replacing the vending machine. Therefore, it is effective to make the product storage shelves and the product discharge device thinner and to keep the installation space of the product storage shelves small.

Incidentally, among the components of the product ejecting device provided between each product storage shelf, the solenoid, which is a driving source, occupies a relatively large space. The reality is that there is a limit to how compact this solenoid can be made due to its performance, and the thickness of the product ejection device is determined by the size of the solenoid. For this reason, even if the product storage shelves are made thinner, the product ejecting device remains thick, which has been a major obstacle in increasing the number of product storage shelves.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As mentioned above, in conventional vending machines, the solenoid serving as the drive source for the product ejection device occupies a large installation space, and the thickness of the product ejection device is determined by the size of this solenoid. It ends up. Therefore, even if an attempt was made to make the product storage shelves thinner, the product ejection device could not be made thinner, so there was a problem in that it was difficult to increase the number of product storage shelves without increasing the size of the vending machine.

The present invention was made to solve these problems, and it is possible to increase the number of product storage shelves while reducing the overall thickness without being affected by the size of the drive source of the product ejecting device. The purpose is to provide vending machines.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a product discharging device that includes:
an ejection mechanism section that appears in and out of the product aisle of the product storage shelf and performs a product ejection operation; a drive source that drives the ejection mechanism section;
It is characterized in that it is composed of a flexible and non-stretchable power transmission member that transmits power from the drive source to the ejection mechanism section, and that the drive source is installed at a position away from the serving position of the product storage shelf.

The ejection mechanism section is connected to, for example, a power transmission member, alternately appears and retracts from the product aisle, and locks the lowest and second-from-the-lowest products of the product storage shelf, respectively, while protruding into the product aisle. The product is mainly composed of first and second stoppers that prevent the product from being discharged.

The drive source includes, for example, a solenoid having a movable core connected to one end of the power transmission member and biased in a direction opposite to the suction direction by a tension spring connected to the other end of the power transmission member.

(Function) In a vending machine configured in this way, among the components of the product ejection device, the ejection mechanism needs to be installed at the bottom of the product storage shelves between each product storage shelf, but it requires a relatively large installation. A driving source that occupies space is provided at a location away from the product storage shelf. This reduces the space occupied by the product ejection device in the installation space of the product storage shelf, making the entire product storage shelf thinner and eliminating the need to make the vending machine unnecessarily large. It becomes possible to increase the number of

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing the arrangement of essential parts of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views showing the configuration of one product storage shelf and product ejecting device. .

As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of product storage shelves 11 are arranged in parallel within the vending machine main body 10. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, each of the product storage shelves 11 has product passages 12 extending in the vertical direction, and products 13 (for example, canned drinks) are stacked on their sides in the product passages 12. and store it.

A discharge mechanism section 14 of a product discharge device is installed below these product storage shelves 11. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the ejection mechanism section 14 includes a vertically long case 15 and first and second stoppers 16 and 17 that alternately (complementarily) appear and retract with respect to the product passage 12. , a lever 18 that rotates the first stopper 16, and a lever 18 that rotates the first stopper 16.
It is composed of a tension spring 19 that urges the. The first stopper 16 locks the lowest product 13a during sales standby, and the second stopper <17 locks the second product 13b from the bottom when the lowest product 13a is discharged. It is. One end of the tension spring 19 is fixed to the case 15.

On the other hand, a solenoid mechanism section 20 as a drive source for the product ejecting device is provided in a conventionally vacant space in the vending machine main body 10, in this example a space below the product storage shelf 11. This solenoid mechanism section 20 includes each discharge mechanism section 14.
A plurality of solenoids 21 for driving are housed in one housing.

Movable iron core 2 of each solenoid 21 of the solenoid mechanism section 20
2 is connected to one end of a long power transmission member 23, and the power transmission member 23 is for transmitting the power from the solenoid mechanism section 20 to the discharge mechanism section 14, and is a flexible and non-stretchable member. For example, wire lobes are used and rollers 24
25 and 26, and is led to the discharge mechanism section 14 through the gap between the product storage shelves 11, and the other end is connected to a second stopper 16 and a lever 18.

In this way, the flexible and non-stretchable elongated power transmission member 23
By connecting the ejecting mechanism section 14 and the solenoid mechanism section 20, which is its drive source, the solenoid mechanism section 2, which occupies a relatively large installation space in the product ejecting device, is connected.
0 can be installed at a position away from the product storage shelf 11.

Further, in this embodiment, a removable joint portion 27 is provided in the middle of the power transmission member 23.

Next, the operation of the vending machine of this embodiment will be explained.

FIG. 2 shows the state when waiting for sales. In this state, the solenoid 21 is not energized, and the movable core 22 is moved between the lever 18 and the power transmission member 23 by the tension spring 19.
Since the lever 18 is biased in a direction opposite to the suction direction when the solenoid 21 is energized, the lever 18 is biased counterclockwise and pushes the first stopper 16 up.

As a result, the locking portion of the first stopper 16 protrudes into the product passage 12 and locks the lowest product 13a. Further, the second stopper 17 is biased clockwise,
The locking portion is in a retracted state from the product passage 12.

Next, when a sales command is input, the solenoid 21 is energized under control from a controller (not shown), and the movable iron core 22 is attracted against the tension spring 19. This situation・
The situation is shown in Figure 3.

When the movable iron core 22 is attracted, the power transmission member 23 follows it and moves upward within the discharge mechanism section 14. As a result, the lever 18 rotates clockwise, so the first stopper 16 rotates counterclockwise, and its locking part retracts from the product passage 12, releasing the lowest product 13a.
This product 13m falls through the product path 12 and is discharged; on the other hand, at the same time that the locking portion of the first stopper 16 is retracted from the product path 12, the second stopper 17 rotates counterclockwise. By protruding into the product passage 12, the locking portion temporarily locks the second product 13b from the bottom.

When the discharge of the product 13a is completed, the excitation of the solenoid 21 is released under the control of the controller, and the movable iron core 22 is pulled by the tension spring 19 via the lever 18 and the power transmission member 23 to return to the initial position. . As a result, each part becomes the state shown in FIG. 2, and the first stopper 1
6 is rotated clockwise by the lever 18 so that the locking portion returns to the product passage 12, and the second stopper 17 is rotated clockwise so that the locking portion is retracted from the product passage 12. Return. At this time, the product 13b that was locked by the locking part of the second stopper 17 falls down inside the product path 12, and
The item is newly locked at the locking part of the stopper 16 as the lowest item.

In this way, by installing the solenoid mechanism section 20 at a position away from the product storage shelf 11, the product storage shelf 11 can be made thinner overall, without making the vending machine unnecessarily large. By increasing the number of product storage shelves 11, the product storage capacity is increased, and more types of products can be stored.

Further, in the above embodiment, by providing a removable joint 27 in the middle of the power transmission member 23, the product discharging mechanism section 1
Maintenance and inspection of 4th etc. becomes easier.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, among the components of the product ejection device, a drive constituted by a solenoid etc. that occupies a relatively large installation space for driving the ejection mechanism section provided between the product storage shelves. The power source is located away from the product storage shelf, and the power is transmitted from the drive source to the ejection mechanism using a flexible, non-stretchable long power transmission member. The space occupied by the product discharging device in the shelf arrangement space can be reduced. This makes it possible to make the entire product storage shelf thinner, so it is possible to increase the number of product storage shelves without making the vending machine unnecessarily large, and easily respond to the diversification of products sold. can.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the main parts of a vending machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 show detailed configurations of the product storage shelves and product ejecting device shown in FIG. 1 before product ejection. and a sectional view at the time of discharge. 10...Vending machine body, 11...Product storage shelf, 1
2...Product aisle, 13...Product, 13g...Lowest product, 13b...Second product, 14...Discharge mechanism section of product discharging device, 15...Case, 16 ...
First stopper, 17...Second stopper, 18...
- Lever 19... tension spring, 20... solenoid mechanism section (drive source of product ejection device), 21... solenoid, 22... movable iron core, 23... power transmission member,
24.25.26...Guide roller, 27...Joint. /10gg Juku Party Kifukyu Figure 1 Applicant Agent Patent Attorney Takehiko Suzue

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A plurality of product storage shelves arranged in parallel, each having a product aisle extending in the vertical direction for storing products, and product discharge that discharges products one by one from the bottom of each of these product storage shelves. In the vending machine, the product discharging device includes a discharging mechanism section that appears in and out of the product aisle and performs a product discharging operation; A vending machine comprising: a drive source that drives a discharge mechanism; and a flexible, non-stretchable power transmission member that transmits power from the drive source to the discharge mechanism. (2) The ejection mechanism section is connected to the power transmission member, alternately appears and disappears from the product aisle, and projects into the product aisle at the lowest and the second from the lowest of the product storage shelves. It has first and second stoppers that respectively lock the product and prevent the product from being discharged, and the drive source has a movable iron core connected to one end of the power transmission member and connected to the other end of the power transmission member. 2. The vending machine according to claim 1, further comprising a solenoid biased in a direction opposite to the suction direction by a tension spring.